Slow-cooked zaatar lamb shoulder

Cooking lamb shoulder like this, low and slow, means you get the softest, juiciest meat packed full of flavour.

Ingredients

Quantity

Ingredient

2kg

bone-in shoulder of lamb, at room temperature

3 tablespoon

zaatar

1 tablespoon

ground cumin

1 teaspoon

chilli flakes

1 teaspoon

ground cinnamon

6

garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon

olive oil

handful

flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems separated

2

onions, quartered

salt

freshly ground black pepper

For the chickpea yogurt

Quantity

Ingredient

25g

butter

2

garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon

finely chopped

400g

chickpeas, drained and rinsed

200g

greek yogurt

To serve

Quantity

Ingredient

2

pickled turnips, drained and roughly chopped

4

medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

pickled green chillies

4-6

flatbreads

Method

With a sharp knife make small, shallow incisions all over the surface of the lamb. Mix the za’atar, cumin, chilli, cinnamon, garlic, and oil together with plenty of seasoning to form a paste. Finely chop the parsley stems and add these to the paste. Rub the paste all over the lamb, cover and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight if you have the time.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the onions into a roasting tray and sit the lamb on top. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove the lamb from the oven, pour in a glass of cold water, cover with foil, reduce the oven temperature to 160°C, and cook for a further 3–3½ hours, or until the lamb is really tender and pulls apart when a couple of forks are inserted into the meat.

Just before serving, make the chickpea yogurt. Melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the garlic and cumin seeds, and sizzle for 1 minute until fragrant. Tip in the chickpeas and stir to coat in the butter. Remove from the heat and add the yogurt, allowing the heat of the pan to warm the yogurt gently.

Skim any excess fat from the tray, shred the lamb using forks (discard any skin and bone), and toss with the roasted onions. Serve with the chickpea yogurt, pickled turnips, tomatoes, finely chopped parsley and green chillies piled on top of flatbreads.